Service · OBE Flex System

A hinge that bends and springs back

Children are not gentle with their glasses. That is why most BBIG frames have an OBE Flex System: a spring hinge made by OBE, the German hinge specialist. Open the temple too far and it gives way, then springs back. And if something does break, the optician replaces the flex at the counter.

What it does

The hinge sits in the temple of the frame and holds a small spring. In everyday use you never notice it. Only when the temple is pushed further than normal does the spring give way, and it then returns to where it was. The frame keeps its shape, even after a school day, a PE lesson or a night forgotten on the sofa.

Replaceable, without sending the frame away

The flex is a separate part. If it wears out or breaks, the glasses do not have to go back to BBIG: the optician swaps the flex at the counter and your child walks out with the same pair. Flex parts come in sets of five and are ordered through the dealer portal.

Who OBE is

OBE is a hinge manufacturer from Ispringen, Germany, with more than fifty years of experience in spectacle hinges. Their spring hinges are widely used in children's eyewear, precisely because they can take a knock.

Which frames

Every product page states whether the frame has a replaceable flex system. ANM frames for teens do not have a flex hinge.

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For opticians

Replacing the flex

This is how we do it at BBIG. Replacing a flex takes a few minutes at the counter.

BBIG instruction drawing: push down and unlock the lock, take out the old flex, slide in the new flex and click the lock back in.

Tools

  • Screwdriver, flat or cross head, depending on the type of screw
  • Small awl, or a flat narrow screwdriver
  • Tweezers

Steps

  1. Push the lock in the hinge down and unlock it. The lock comes out.
  2. Take out the old flex with its spring and check the position of the lock: it should point up.
  3. Slide the new flex into the temple.
  4. Push the lock back in until it clicks. It is now locked.

If the lock will not come out, a drop of oil and an ultrasonic clean often does the trick.

Ordering flex parts

In sets of five, through the dealer portal.

To the frame parts →Become a dealer